The Government of Gujarat has approved Jail department’s proposal to introduce STD PCO phone booths in Ahmedabad and Vadodara jail campuses according to sources. Such system is already in place and succesful in some jails of Tamilnadu and Karnataka presently.

It is expected that the system would be in place in Ahmedabad’s Central jain by April this year as a pilot project.

Once the system in place, the prisoners would be allowed to talk to their relatives over a phone call. The telephone instrument will be connected to software to record the whole talk. A police official on duty will listen to all the verbal content of call. There will be a punishment for prisoners who misuse the system. The phone call records will be considered valid as evidence in court. The prisoners will be given coupens of various rates to use the service as actual currency is not allowed inside the jail campus.